Honeybees become endangered

Sacramento Bee: For more than a decade, scientists have been trying to solve the mystery of honeybees disappearing by the millions.

There are many suspects, but one has become the focus of scientists and regulators worldwide. Over the past two months, several scientific studies have pointed to a family of pesticides — an insecticide widely used in agriculture but also found in backyard products.

While there is debate over the culprits, the threat to a critical component of our food supply should be removed.

The neurotoxic insecticide, chemically similar to nicotine, impairs honeybees’ ability to forage for pollen and lessens their ability to rebuild their colonies over winter. One scientific study pointed to more disturbing widespread ecological problems.

INSECTICIDES TARGETED

A four-year analysis by 29 scientists reviewing more than 800 peer-reviewed reports concluded for the first time that insecticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, are “causing significant damage” to beneficial insects and are a “key factor in the decline of bees.”

Just as startling, the insecticide was linked to drops in bird and reptile populations, according to the Worldwide Integrated Assessment. Not only does the pesticide kill insects, it changes the tunneling behavior of earthworms, and creates health problems for snails and aquatic life — all part of the diet of birds and reptiles.

Scientific research may take time to determine the cause, but there is a prime suspect that could be taken out or our backyards, and our fields and orchards.

We should have learned a few lessons by now in tinkering with the environment: Too often, we have introduced a solution to one problem only to create a ripple effect of harmful consequences.